The invention relates to a yarn feed arrangement for a knitting machine.
In a known yarn feed arrangement of that kind (German laid-open application (DE-OS) No. 36 16 658) the yarn must be threaded from the back forwardly into the through opening of the yarn guide. That is a tedious operation which can scarcely be carried out because of the constricted conditions in respect of space, in particular in the case of high output machines with for example 72 knitting systems. Apart from that, there is only a narrow guide surface immediately adjoining the eye available for guiding and stabilising the yarn prior to its being passed into the hooks of the knitting implements.
Another known yarn feed arrangement of the general kind set forth in the opening part of this specification (German laid-open application (DE-OS) No. 15 85 437) is of a similar design configuration. For the purposes of feeding the yarn, that apparatus also has a respective yarn change device so that the conditions in regard to threading in the yarns, reliably feeding the yarns and conditions in respect of space are even worse.
Finally, a yarn feed arrangement of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification is known (German laid-open applications (DE-OS) Nos. 33 24 245 and 34 21 868) wherein the through opening of the yarn guide comprises an open eye into which the yarn can also be easily threaded from the front and in which the guide surface is formed by a yarn guide groove provided in a cylindrical body. Although in that way the above-mentioned problems in relation to knitting procedure can be substantially avoided, that is only at the expense of an overall assembly which is comparatively complex from the structural point of view and which would represent a considerable cost factor in relation to high output machines with a large number of knitting systems.